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Which chemistry hsc option?! (1 Viewer)

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Our class is deciding on which option we should choose (already) for the HSC course. It's a toss up between:
- Industrial Chemistry
AND
- Shipwrecks

Which one would be best to pick? For those who have done either option, which is the easiest, less demanding to learn?

Thanks, y'all!
 

albertcamus

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Industrial easily. It's the easiest option, less demanding and it's the option that is builds up from the core topics more so than any other option I'd say.

And it's just quite easy overall - there's no huge content overloading, it's mostly simple concepts + a few calculations.
 

HeroicPandas

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Industrial - requires a lot of understanding (like acidic environment - module 2)
Shipwrecks - some understanding (less than industrial), quite a lot of rote learning required (which is EXTREMELY BORING)

in my school, one class does industrial and the other does shipwrecks. I am studying shipwrecks because i dont wnana move classess and its VERY easy, some of my friends in the other class (doing industrial), say that they are finding it difficult to understand some concepts in industrial and find difficulty doing some calculation questions

In my opinion, if u liked module 2 (acidic environment) and find it easy, do industrial. Shipwrecks, i think is more boring and doesnt contain that many concepts

"For those who have done either option, which is the easiest, less demanding to learn?", if u found module 2 hard and the haber process in module 3, stay away from industrial

I would recommend that u do industrial, because if u understanding something (say Le Chatelier's principle), the chance of forgetting it is much lesser than the chance of forgetting information that u've memorised (eg. purification of water - screening, aeration, etc) because i was to choose again, i would do industrial! haha
 
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Thanks for the info, guys :)
I've heard that industrial is actually the hardest option, and that there are several equations you need to remember. Also, there are difficult calculations and equilibriums involved...whereas shipwrecks has none. I was having a look at past hsc exams...and I was comparing the hsc industrial questions to the dotpoints in the syllabus. It seemed like only a few were closely aligned with the dotpoints, whereas the others were not, so preparation would be difficult.
Is any of this true? As I'm hoping to achieve a Band 6, I'm trying to be as wise about this decision as I can! Which one is more rote-learnable?
 

HeroicPandas

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Thanks for the info, guys :)
I've heard that industrial is actually the hardest option, and that there are several equations you need to remember. Also, there are difficult calculations and equilibriums involved...whereas shipwrecks has none. I was having a look at past hsc exams...and I was comparing the hsc industrial questions to the dotpoints in the syllabus. It seemed like only a few were closely aligned with the dotpoints, whereas the others were not, so preparation would be difficult.
Is any of this true? As I'm hoping to achieve a Band 6, I'm trying to be as wise about this decision as I can! Which one is more rote-learnable?
shipwrecks has calculations.

Look did u read my post?
If u found module 2 (acidic environment) hard and the HABER PROCESS (of module 3), dont do industrial. ALSO, if u dont understand Le-Chatelier's Principle, dont do industrial

Shipwrecks in comparison is easier in my opinion because its just regurgitating information...like "Evaluate the significance of Michael Faraday's work", the calculation questions are quite easy-medium difficulty and u can rote learn ur heart out....
 

albertcamus

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Industrial concepts are DEFINITELY NOT hard.

There's 6 sections in the topic.

Section 1 is just rote learning a dotpoint which sort of like a combination of ethanol/biomass and Haber type long response.
Section 2 is literally just equilibrium + 2 pracs + a calculation that I daresay is easier than titration/most acidic calculations.
Section 3 is the production of sulfuric acid and the steps/reasons why it is performed in certain ways - the style of study is almost identical to Haber.
Section 4 is the difference between a few types of cells and galvanic cells - nothing difficult at all.
Section 5 is soaps/enviro impacts of soaps - if you liked Yr 11 Chem, it's a very nice area to study with different bonding types, lots of structural formulae (kinda like esters).
Section 6 is yet another industrial process with a few mole calculations.

All in all, it's very easy to learn, easier to get full marks in than other options, and especially - most selective schools do Industrial so there's a tonne of resources out there which really do make studying a lot easier.

Tl;dr Do Industrial in all situations. If you find industrial concepts hard, seek help from the teacher, a tutor or some friends because I assure you that it's no harder than the concepts in the core topics and it links in well with them + there's not much to rote learn + the resources available for study trump any other topic.
 

albertcamus

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Thanks for the info, guys :)
I've heard that industrial is actually the hardest option, and that there are several equations you need to remember. Also, there are difficult calculations and equilibriums involved...whereas shipwrecks has none. I was having a look at past hsc exams...and I was comparing the hsc industrial questions to the dotpoints in the syllabus. It seemed like only a few were closely aligned with the dotpoints, whereas the others were not, so preparation would be difficult.
Is any of this true? As I'm hoping to achieve a Band 6, I'm trying to be as wise about this decision as I can! Which one is more rote-learnable?
Pls don't rote learn - because it might work at school, but in the HSC, what option topic you choose is the least of your worries if you can't apply your knowledge...
 

CM07

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Not really - depends, my school did Chem of Art but I was able to get out of doing it.

Some schools DO give you an option though.
All our option topics were predetermined- not that i'm complaining about Industrial Chemistry. I would have chosen Communications > Genetics for biology though... but I dropped so no matter.

I don't think you can go wrong with Industrial since I hear Shipwrecks is very very boring.
 

HeroicPandas

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Pls don't rote learn - because it might work at school, but in the HSC, what option topic you choose is the least of your worries if you can't apply your knowledge...
U need to rote learn in some point of ur science life or u'll forget the information u've learnt (eg. purification of water - screening, aeration, etc)
Industrial concepts are DEFINITELY NOT hard.

All in all, it's very easy to learn, easier to get full marks in than other options, and especially - most selective schools do Industrial so there's a tonne of resources out there which really do make studying a lot easier.

Tl;dr Do Industrial in all situations. If you find industrial concepts hard, seek help from the teacher, a tutor or some friends because I assure you that it's no harder than the concepts in the core topics and it links in well with them + there's not much to rote learn + the resources available for study trump any other topic.
Saying that industrial concepts are definitely not hard is subjective
 
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Let me be clearer here. When I say 'rote learn', I mean simply learning and remembering the content. After doing so, I begin to question the information, solve problems, do further research and reading, and think of situations to apply the information to. Rote learning is simply my way of remembering the information- which is clearly necessary!
My school dos usually predetermine our options, however, only our chemistry teachers give us the choice.

Thanks everyone for the info about industrial and shipwrecks! Will need to consult and find out what the class wants to do as well :) I'll see how I go with the acidic environment module and if I struggle with it, then I shall favour Shipwrecks (even though the content sounds REALLY dry and boring!!).
Are there many chemical equations and formulas to remember in Industrial? Are the calculations more difficult than those of the core modules?
 

HeroicPandas

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Industrial is more conceptual to shipwrecks

Just like acidic environment (module 2) is more conceptual to production of material (module 1) and/or chemical monitoring and management (module 3)
 

albertcamus

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Haha idc what everyone else says - Industrial is less work from everyone I've asked doing Shipwrecks or Industrial.

And Industrial concepts are easier than Acidic (it really isn't that conceptual - idk how I can not be subjective, but it's pretty much common to hear what I'm saying from other people doing Industrial).
 

Makematics

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Haha idc what everyone else says - Industrial is less work from everyone I've asked doing Shipwrecks or Industrial.

And Industrial concepts are easier than Acidic (it really isn't that conceptual - idk how I can not be subjective, but it's pretty much common to hear what I'm saying from other people doing Industrial).
And additionally, Industrial is nicely broken into parts, all of which i find to be quite interesting and nice to learn. You'll only have trouble memorising equations if u rote learn it. If you know what chemicals do what in processes like membrane and diapragm, you should be able to just write down the chemicals and their states and then balance it
 
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In the HSC exam, are the questions on industrial closely aligned to the syllabus dotpoints, or are they more problem-solving and application questions?
The problem is, everyone has a somewhat biased opinion - those doing Industrial favour Industrial, whereas those doing shipwrecks favour shipwrecks and claim that it is much easier than Industrial. I had a flick through some pages of a chemistry book and Industrial seemed more complex whereas shipwrecks was more straightforward (yet boring).
 

albertcamus

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In the HSC exam, are the questions on industrial closely aligned to the syllabus dotpoints, or are they more problem-solving and application questions?
The problem is, everyone has a somewhat biased opinion - those doing Industrial favour Industrial, whereas those doing shipwrecks favour shipwrecks and claim that it is much easier than Industrial. I had a flick through some pages of a chemistry book and Industrial seemed more complex whereas shipwrecks was more straightforward (yet boring).
It's pretty much the syllabus dotpoints - maybe there's a bit of application/problem solving with one of the calculations - but if you learn the dotpoint properly (equilibrium) then it's definitely not very outside the box.

And Industrial may seem harder (?) but as I said, it has more resources since a lot more selective schools do it - there's more notes, tutors teaching Industrial, past papers with industrial etc. than any other option.

But just so you know, the HSC Exam in general IS NOT always dotpoint oriented - if you don't want problem solving in your option that's alright, but you'll have to deal with it in core either way.

So best to know how dotpoints link with each other (look at last year's 6 marker where they combined batteries from topic 1 with chemical monitoring from topic 3), and calculations are less 'straightforward' nowadays - there's more application.
 
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